SIX campaigning fathers who said they were arrested on General Election day to spare Prime Minister Tony Blair from embarrassment, yesterday demonstrated outside the police station where they were held.

The group, all members of Fathers 4 Justice, were detained for nearly 12 hours in police cells at Bishop Auckland, County Durham, on May 5.

They claim they had ended their vigil outside Mr Blair's home in Trimdon when they were arrested "on orders from above". Mr Blair was on his way to London when they were released without charge at 3.45am the next day.

All six are lodging individual complaints with Durham Police, with Fathers 4 Justice making a separate objection to the arrests.

Mike Kelly, the group's co-ordinator in the region, said: "We want a full investigation into why the decision was made to arrest us.

"We had a good rapport with the officers on the ground and had complied fully with every request.

"Suddenly, as we were packing up to leave, the order must have come from on high that we were to be picked up - just to get us out of Tony Blair's way. There must have been 60 police on us."

A Durham Police spokesman said: "We can confirm we have received a complaint from the Fathers 4 Justice organisation concerning events on the night of the General Election.

"The matter is being referred to the force's professional standards department and will be dealt with according to normal procedures."